Lone Pine, California

If you just finished exploring Death Valley and you have an available day it is time to point your compass towards the small town of Lone Pine. Located in the Owens Valley in the foothills of the Alabama Hills, it is about a hundred miles from Death Valley and has a population of about 2000 people. Born as an outpost on the trade route of the Central Pacific railway, Lone Pine soon became a supply town for the nearby mining communities of Cerro Gordo, Keeler, Swansea, and Darwin. In 1872 was devastated by a violent earthquake that razed it almost to the ground, then, in 1883 with the advent of the railway, he start to grow in ascending order. The trip is really worth to visit the breathtaking landscapes that stand out among the Alabama Hills and that surely will appear quite familiar, having been immortalized in countless movie productions (over 400 films shot) one above all “High Sierra”, starring the legendary Humphrey Bogart. In this regard, there is also a small cinema museum of the movie filmed in Lone Pine. Admire the top of Mount Whitney which with its 14,505 feet is the higher peak in the US if we exclude Alaska and most of all, you can do hiking the wonderful Alabama Hills, a truly unique destination of its kind and not too hackneyed as tourist destination , and for that reason, extremely suggestive. Seeing Mobius Arch and Kiber Pass, you will really feel to live the days of Gene Autry, the Lone Ranger or Gunga Din. Lone Pine has remained a bit at the time of the famous Gold Rush and also its inhabitants, shops and bars that you will find, are genuinely 100% USA made.

Copyright 2016 by Francesco Nicotera                                                               All right reserved